Copper Mountain Resort wants to expand snowmaking, trails and overnight camping options

#Copper Mountain #Colorado

Summit Daily

Copper Mountain Resort wants to expand its snowmaking operations by more than 80 acres, while also expanding its summertime offerings with miles of new mountain biking, e-bike and hiking trails.

Copper is applying for the proposed project through the U.S. Forest Service. The White River National Forest, led by forest supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams, is currently preparing an environmental assessment through the next month for Copper's proposed project and is seeking comments and feedback from the public.

If Copper's plan is approved, the resort anticipates commencing construction as early as this coming spring or summer.

"The snowmaking component of the project would ensure timely opening of the resort as well as adequate snow coverage on all trails where snowmaking infrastructure is installed," Fitzwilliams said in a scoping notice announcing the proposed projects.

For the summer, Copper wants to build out its existing mountain biking trail network by approximately 23.6 miles, including a mile of e-mountain biking trails. The resort also wants to expand its existing hiking trail network by approximately 13.7 miles.

Copper's proposed summer programming additions would also center around overnight camping at the resort as well as an extension of Copper's existing "A-1" mountain access road by approximately 370 feet to provide access to a parcel known as "Olie Lind."

NEW SUMMER TRAILS

Copper's 23.6-mile expansion of its mountain biking trail network would require the construction of 45 distinct trail segments that would be integrated into the resort's existing mountain biking trail network.

The proposed trails would include a variety of trail styles characterized as traditional, singletrack, optimized singletrack, gravity singletrack and double track. The new trails would also accommodate beginner through expert ability levels.

More specifically, the proposed trails would cater to gravity riders, enduro riders and e-bike riders.

Gravity riders (also known as downhill riders) use bikes equipped with long travel suspension that absorb the impact of extremely rough terrain and repeated jump landings. Gravity riders almost always use a shuttle or lift service to ascend to the top of their ride. Enduro riders use bikes equipped with travel suspension that allow for high performance on rough downhill terrain without compromising efficiency on the uphill.

E-bike riders generally use bikes that resemble those used by enduro riders, but with the addition of a battery and electric motor. According to the forest service's scoping notice, designs for e-bike trails would adhere to different standards than those that would be applied for construction of gravity and enduro trails.

According to the scoping notice, 14 trail segments would be beginner optimized singletrack, nine would be intermediate optimized singletrack, one would be intermediate gravity singletrack, seven would be advanced optimized singletrack, six would be advanced gravity singletrack, one would be expert optimized singletrack, four would be expert gravity singletrack, one would be an e-mountain bike climb optimized singletrack, one would be an e-mountain bike climb double track and one would be an e-mountain bike climb traditional singletrack.

Approximately 6.3 miles of the resort's existing mountain bike trails have been identified as requiring reconstruction, including those with excessive erosion, fall lines requiring rerouting and trails that have become overgrown from lack of use.

Within the 6.3 miles of trails identified as requiring reconstruction, approximately 3 miles of existing mountain biking trails would be reconstructed and repurposed as hiking trails. In addition, approximately 1.2 miles of existing mountain biking trails would be abandoned with vegetation and terrain being restored to their natural states.

SNOWMAKING EXPANSIONS

The 86 acres of snowmaking expansion would all be on the frontside of Copper's skiing and riding terrain and in six watersheds: Formidable Basin, Loverly Basin, Roundabout Basin, Union Gulch, West Tenmile Creek and Wheeler Creek.

To offset potential watershed impacts in lower Wheeler Creek and its tributary, McKenzie Gulch, Copper is proposing to implement an adaptive management plan with two components: the installation of an in-stream diversion structure in McKenzie Gulch — just above the confluence with Wheeler Gulch — and the application of restorative projects in the lower reaches of Wheeler Gulch.

The in-stream diversion structure would be designed to capture and reroute snowmelt runoff originating within Wheeler Gulch and Formidable Basin. It would be constructed on the right bank of McKenzie Gulch at an elevation of approximately 10,085 feet, just upstream of its confluence with Wheeler Gulch.

In terms of water rights, the proposal for expanded snowmaking would require the diversion of water in excess of the currently approved amount of 530 acre-feet per year. Copper currently uses this 530 acre-feet of water on its 329 acres of existing snowmaking coverage. As such, the resort is proposing to divert an additional 246 acre-feet of water from Copper's decreed diversion structures on Tenmile Creek and West Tenmile Creek to provide new snowmaking coverage on 229 acres of trails — 143 acres previously approved for snowmaking coverage and the proposed new 86 acres.

NEW SUMMER PROGRAMMING

Copper's new summer overnight-camping programs would be based in an area that is near the bottom terminals of the resort's Rendezvous and Sierra chairlifts. Copper anticipates the area could accommodate approximately 30-50 guests at a time, two to three nights per week.

Copper would also explore using wood platforms resembling large pallets to facilitate camp setup and to provide a flat surface for guests to sleep on. All non-natural features, with the exception of signage, would be temporary and could be promptly removed during the summer season and would be removed annually at the end of summer.

HOW TO COMMENT

Comments on Copper's proposed project will be accepted through Dec. 9. Written comments can be submitted by mail to: Scott Fitzwilliams, forest supervisor c/o Sam Massman, project leader Dillon Ranger District, PO Box 620 Silverthorne, CO 80498. Comments can be dropped off in person to: Sam Massman, project leader, 680 Blue River Parkway Silverthorne. Electronic comments can be submitted at Cara.Ecosystem-Management.org/Public/CommentInput?Project=54909.

For more information, go to FS.usda.gov/project/?project=54909.

Summit Daily Link

Due to high interest, Breckenridge’s ‘Winter Kickoff’ event moved to Riverwalk Center

#Breckenridge #Coloradoo

Breckenridge Ski Resort

The venue for Friday evening's Winter Kickoff event in Breckenridge has been changed from the Breckenridge Backstage Theater to the Riverwalk Center, due to high interest. The Riverwalk Center is located at 150 W. Adams Ave., in Breckenridge.

Mountain Outdoor Recreation Alliance, the Breckenridge Film Festival, the Friends of the Dillon Ranger District and Breckenridge Ski Resort will jointly host the event from 5-8:30 p.m.

The event will feature a 6 p.m. talk by Joel Gratz, the founder of the weather forecasting website OpenSnow, which is dedicated to chronicling skiing and riding snow conditions.

The event will also feature a 7 p.m. showing of Breckenridge Ski Resort's new documentary, "Above Treeline," about the resort's highest-elevation skiing and riding terrain and the people behind it.

Tickets are free for the event, though attendees are encouraged to donate to the featured nonprofits.

To find out more information and to RSVP, go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/breck-ski-resort-mountain-outdoor-recreation-alliance-and-fdrd-17213797973.

Summit Daily Link

Keystone Resort changes up parking situation in advance of opening day

#Keystone #Colorado

Summit Daily

Keystone Resort has unveiled its finalized parking plans in advance of its earliest opening day in nearly 10 years. The resort's parking lots have been notorious for getting full at peak times, leaving guests scrambling to find parking and wasting valuable gnar-shredding time. While parking capacity remains unchanged, Keystone hopes that several changes to the parking process will alleviate some of those parking issues for the 2018-19 season.

The River Run Gondola lot, formerly known as the Montezuma lot and containing a majority of the resort's parking spaces, will remain free every day. Carpooling will continue to be incentivized at the Gondola lot. Families with children younger than 13 or cars with four or more passengers will be prioritized by traffic staff and directed to first-come, first-served spaces up front.

One significant change to parking this year is that a formerly free lot is now a paid lot. The Mountain House East E lot, formerly known as the Pika lot, will charge $10 for parking.

The other Mountain House base area lots, Mountain House West A, Mountain House West B and Mountain House East D, formerly the Marmot and Porcupine lots, will remain at $20. Paid parking lots servicing River Run Village — Hunki Dori and Gold Bug — will still charge a daily fee of $30. Fees will be in place between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. and all lots will become free after 2 p.m.

A significant new change is an additional charge for overnight parking at the pay lots. Cars parked overnight between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. at the pay lots will be charged $20. That cost will be in addition to any fees for parking during the day.

Pay lots will be changing from an entry gate system to one involving the Passport Parking app and kiosk system, which is already used in Breckenridge. Guests can park at a space and pay in advance at the kiosk, or install the Passport Parking app and pay remotely on their phone.

If the pay lots get full, guests will be shepherded to a different lot or given other instructions on how to park. Stopping to stand in a line for an open spot will not be allowed, but guests can circle around until one opens up, making it effectively a "one-out, one-in" system.

The resort will also open two overflow shuttle lots, the Powerline lot and North Shuttle lot, during holidays and weekends to increase capacity. From those areas, guests can take a five-minute shuttle ride to the resort.

Russell Carlton, Keystone's communication manager, said the changes are meant to streamline parking at the resort, as well as improve the guest experience overall.

"We believe the overall plan is designed to preserve and maximize parking capacity," Carlton said. "It will expedite traffic with improved payment processes and traffic control assistance. The flow of traffic will move more seamlessly, and should fix some of the parking issues at peak times and weekends."

Carlton urged guests to carpool and arrive early to get the most out of their visit. He said parking usually gets full on peak days and weekends between 10 a.m. and noon, so guests should plan ahead to get to the resort before or after that peak period.

Carlton also pointed out that Keystone is the only resort that offers night skiing, and guests who get to the resort in the afternoon can stick around and still get a full "day" on the slopes.

Additionally, Keystone has a dedicated Twitter account for parking, @KeystoneParking. The feed will provide guests with real-time updates on the parking situation, including which lots are currently open or full.

Summit Daily Link

Breckenridge, Keystone ski resorts to open early for first time in nearly a decade

#Breckenridge #Colorado

Breckenridge Ski Resort

The past week’s parade of impressive snow storms here in the High Country has resulted in such promising conditions that Vail Resorts’ two premier Summit County properties will open early — each for the first time in nearly a decade.

Both Breckenridge Ski Resort and Keystone Resort will open on Wednesday, rather than the originally-planned Friday, for the 2018-19 winter season. The resorts say up to five feet of snow has fallen across Breckenridge and Keystone since mid-October, with up to four feet of snow in the past week alone.

At Breckenridge, lifts will open at 9 a.m., while the BreckConnect Gondola will provide access from town to Peak 8 beginning at 8 a.m. On Peak 8, skiers and riders will have access to terrain off of the Colorado SuperChair and Rip's Ride. The resort says terrain updates will continue to be made throughout the week.

Keystone will offer skiing and riding on beginner trails Schoolmarm and Silver Spoon, with access provided by the River Run Gondola and the Montezuma Express Chairlift on the frontside of Keystone’s main peak, Dercum Mountain, beginning at 9 a.m. There will be an early season A51 Terrain Park located on Schoolmarm with eight features.

Soon thereafter, Keystone will officially open North Peak on Friday, Nov. 9, with intermediate terrain available. Guests will have access to the intermediate trail Prospector via the Outpost Gondola and Santiago Express.

To celebrate opening on Wednesday at Breckenridge, guests can enjoy complimentary waffles provided by The Waffle Shop — a new on-mountain dining offering that will open this season at The Maggie on Peak 9 — and music from DJ DC.

Additional opening weekend celebrations will continue on the morning of Friday, Nov. 9 with the Brothers of Brass, bringing the sounds of New Orleans street music to the slopes of Breckenridge. The resort will also honor a local Veteran and the Summit County High School choir will perform the National Anthem prior to first chair.

"This is the first time in nearly 10 years that either Breckenridge or Keystone will be opening early," said John Buhler, Breckenridge's vice president and chief operating officer. "It's been a snowy start to the season and it is official; the skiing and snowboarding season is here. We are thrilled to kick off the winter season this week and anticipate opening up a variety of terrain quickly at the resorts."

On Wednesday, Keystone will offer homemade breakfast treats from Keystone's new executive pastry chef, as well as hot chocolate and coffee at the base of River Run Gondola.

Guests will also have access to ski and snowboard lessons with the Keystone Ski & Ride School, rentals, food and beverage options including 9280 Tap House and Starbucks in River Run Village, and the Summit House atop Dercum Mountain.

Then on Friday, Keystone will celebrate with raffles and prizes, including Helly Hansen hats and backpacks and Starbucks gift packs, music and expanded terrain.

Despite the in-bounds openings, uphill access at both Breckenridge and Keystone is currently not permitted due to early season mountain preparations and snowmaking. Each resort says they will announce when uphill access is open to guests once early season operations are complete and there’s adequate terrain to safely permit.

Even with the new opening day plan, Breckenridge's "Wake Up Breck" event will still take place this Thursday at 7 a.m., as originally planned. Up at the resort, you'll be able to pick up a free commemorative coffee mug and a free cup of coffee, compliments of Breckenridge.

Participating coffee shops for the 2018-19 event include Starbucks, Clint's Bakery & Coffee House, Cool River Coffee House, Daylight Donuts, The Coffee Depot at Main Street Station, Cuppa Joe's, Kava Café, The Crown and Cabin Coffee of Breckenridge.

Summit Daily Link

Don't expect a sharp turn in the housing market, Shiller says

#Colorado

The housing market may be slowing down, but Nobel Prize winner Robert Shiller told CNBC he isn't fearful that a big downturn is ahead.

During the financial crisis, the fluctuation of home prices was the sharpest anyone had ever seen — and the word "housing bubble" entered the vocabulary, the Yale economist said.

Now, "you can call it a bubble" because home prices have been rising since 2012, "but it's not the same. It's more placid," he said on "Power Lunch."

"I don't expect a sharp turn in the housing market at this point," added Shiller, the co-founder of the Case-Shiller Index, which tracks home prices around the nation.

The impact of rising mortgage rates is already being felt on the housing market.
Rates started climbing in September and are now approximately a full percentage point higher than they were a year ago. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate is now around 5 percent.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Census reported that sales of newly built homes dropped 5.5 percent in September compared with August and were 13 percent lower compared with a year ago. The slowdown is worse than had been predicted, even with higher rates factored in.

The reading prompted Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group, to write in a note to clients: "Anyone watching home builder stocks or watching the data all year should not be surprised but it's clear this important area of the US economy, highly sensitive to price and rates, has obviously slowed sharply."

The latest S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, released last month, showed a slowing of the rate of price increases for July.

Courtesy of Michelle Fox, CNBC


— CNBC's Diana Olick contributed to this report.

More moose and fewer willows. Any connection?

#Colorado

Michael Yearout Photography

 Moose have become commonplace in Rocky Mountain National Park, which should be no real surprise. Some 24 were released not far away, in North Park, in 1978. Now 2,500 roam across mountainous Colorado.

But are there too many moose now in the national park? That's the question that emerges from several news stories this year about a new research study. Up to 40 moose are being outfitted with GPS monitors to better understand them and their use of their environment.

Moose were not native to Colorado, at least in the numbers they are now found. Some evidence from the 1850s exists of small numbers of transient moose, typically lone bulls, but no breeding populations.

Even after introduction in Colorado, moose mostly remained on the west side of the Continental Divide, in the Kawuneeche Valley. Ten years or so ago, says Sky-Hi News, sightings became more common near Estes Park, the gateway town on the east side.

Monitoring of vegetation suggest more and more moose on both sides. Vegetative plots monitored on the west side showed an increase from 80 percent, having evidence of moose at 100 percent between 2013 and 2018. On the east side, the increase was even greater; 3 percent to 85 percent.

Expanding moose have contributed significantly to the 40 percent reduction in willows in the park during the last two decades. Willows provide 93 percent of a moose's 55-pound daily diet. Elk grazing also contributes to the decline, along with a fungus spread by birds that feed on willow sap, says

landscape ecologist Hanem Abouelezz.

Willows serve as soil stabilizers in riparian zones, which serve as the interface between land and a river or stream and are critical to watershed health, wildlife habitat and overall ecosystem health, explains the Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph. "Without such vegetation, the riparian zone can wash away, impacting the aquatic and terrestrial landscape."

Without grizzly bears and wolves — primary predators of moose — the willows have few defenses.

"The changes that caused the moose population to grow, the willows to die off and the riparian zones to be impacted didn't happen overnight, and neither will the solution," Abouelezz told the Gazette-Telegraph.

"Whatever is done," she added, "it will not be an effort to recreate some balance that would have still existed had it not been for the large role of humans in the last 100 years."

Summit Daily Link

Breckenridge City Market ‘really close’ to expansion, landowner’s attorney says

#Breckenridge #Colorado

Summit Daily

The town of Breckenridge, a private landowner and the owner of City Market are closing in on a three-way development agreement that could soon lead to an expansion of the town's biggest grocery store.

Breckenridge Town Council has been pushing for an expansion of City Market for some time now, and recently commissioned a needs assessment study to help propel the idea forward.

Because of the grocery store's oft-crowded aisles and long checkout lines, many locals have simply avoided shopping there during peak times. With town council unanimously supporting a proposed development agreement on first reading last week, however, it looks as if those customers could soon see relief.

"The development agreement is the first step, but there are other agreements that need to be put in place, such as an amendment of City Market's lease," said attorney Kent Willis, representing Ofpers Partners, owner of the Parkway Center property and landlord for its tenants.

One of those tenants in the shopping complex at 400 N. Park Ave. is City Market, which is owned by Kansas-based Kroger subsidiary Dillon Companies.

Willis said City Market's representatives have spearheaded negotiations with the town thus far, and the landowner only learned of the proposed development agreement about 10 days ago. The attorney said he and his client are still getting up to speed on all the details, but they hope to make a decision on the proposed agreement by sometime next week.

"We're really close," he said of reaching an agreement. "It's just that there are details we need to make sure that, as the landlord, are workable for us."

The proposal describes a roughly 10,000-square-foot expansion, which would increase the size of the grocery store by about 17 percent. To make this happen, Breckenridge would turn over seven commercial SFEs — or density units equal to about 1,000 square feet each — for the construction of roughly 6,500 square feet of additional grocery store space.

Another 3,500 square feet of extra space for City Market would come with the grocery store absorbing existing commercial units inside the shopping center to the south. As a safeguard, the proposed agreement mandates that any density provided by the town would be solely for grocery items and forbids things like furniture sales.

After raising the price of transferable density units early this year, the town's contribution of seven units of transferable density rights would essentially amount to over a half-million dollar gift for the expansion project. Given the situation, town council is ready to make that deal.

"This is what council should give commercial density for — when it's a community need like this," said Councilwoman Wendy Wolfe, a leading advocate for such an expansion. "We do it for other community needs, and I think this is no less a community need in our town."

The density would come from a pool of unused developable density tied to a number of town-owned properties. Exactly which one or ones might give up the seven units for City Market has not yet been decided, according to town planners familiar with the proposal.

Council is expected to vote on the development again for second reading on Nov. 13. If signed by all three parties, the agreement would have a shelf life of one year to get the project off the ground.

While the proposal describes how the store might grow, exactly what City Market could do with that space has yet to be seen.

Town staff said the additional space would go up on the back of the building, leaving the parking lot largely unaffected, but no plans have been submitted yet.

"At this point, City Market has not really told the landlord what its intended uses on the inside of the building will be," Willis said.

Wolfe was adamant the town wants more grocery in the deal, but she expressed some hope City Market could use the additional room to add to the pharmacy, too. Willis said he doesn't know if that will happen.

"At this stage, they're concentrating on expanding the building," Willis said.

Reached via email Wednesday, a spokesman for Kroger hinted at what that might mean: "We are excited about the expansion of the Breckenridge City Market. The expansion will allow for more added conveniences as well as more product selections. Our goal is to make this as seamless as possible for our customers."

Summit Daily Link

10 Mile Music Hall opens Tuesday night

#Frisco #Colorado

Summit Daily

One the most anticipated openings of the year for Summit County's music scene couldn't be contained in one day, so 10 Mile Music Hall will celebrate its grand opening with shows Tuesday and Wednesday, both of which are guaranteed sellouts.

Max capacity at 10 Mile Music Hall sits at just over 700 people, creating a hugely intimate venue for live music performances at 710 Main St., Frisco, right smack dab in the heart of Summit County.

Excitement ahead of this week's two-day grand opening is beyond palpable, and with Leftover Salmon playing both shows, tickets to either performance have quickly become a hot commodity.

"I'm just feeling excitement," said co-owner Todd Altschuler, as crews were putting the final touches on 10 Mile Music Hall in the background. "After working on this project for two years, it's finally coming to fruition, and it feels like the whole community is going to be here so I'm pretty psyched about it."

10 Mile Music Hall is the vision of Altschuler and co-owner Keegan Casey, who together previously managed The Barkley Ballroom, a popular bar to catch live music in Frisco. They closed the ballroom to focus their efforts on 10 Mile Music Hall, and now they have a true, custom-made music venue.

The building is a nice fit, roughly 8,000 square feet with an industrial, yet rustic mountain feel. The vaulted ceiling reaches up to 33 feet at its peak, and a massive dance floor on the ground level directs attention to the focal point — the stage, of course — with a wraparound balcony on the upper floor.

"So you really have two levels really close to the stage," Altschuler said.

With two side-by-side, garage-style sliding doors, the upstairs balcony connects to a large outdoor deck. The owners said they won't "do that to the neighbors" during concerts. Rather, the plan is to open the balcony up over the summers, as the venue brings more than live music to Frisco.

A 25-foot bar on the ground level and smaller bar upstairs should keep drinks flowing. Interestingly enough, 10 Mile Music Hall will also enlist the help of a smartphone app, Noble, which allows patrons to order drinks on their phones and get a text when they're ready so people don't have to wait in line.

The sound and lighting systems inside are comparable to what someone might find at a much bigger venue, Altschuler continued, adding that with "lots and lots" of bathrooms, water-bottle filling stations and smartphone-charging hookups, he thinks they're pretty close to getting everything "all dialed in" ahead of Tuesday's inaugural performance.

"It was a small footprint, but we fit a lot into it," he said of the new building, and everything is ADA accessible.

For the grand opening, 10 Mile Music Hall is bringing Leftover Salmon for shows on Tuesday and Wednesday. According to Altschuler, it's "a super-fun band who does it right on Halloween."

Because the band has such a strong following, especially on a day like Halloween, the owners of 10 Mile Music Hall decided to make their grand opening a two-day event instead of one.

Tickets for Wednesday's show were sold out online last week. A few remained for Tuesday's performance early Monday morning, but those too were expected to run out soon, if they haven't already.

Looking ahead, the winter is looking pretty stacked with numerous shows already lined up. Additionally, 10 Mile Music Hall will house much more than adult-oriented live music, as it plays host to family concerts, private events, weddings and more.

According to Altschuler, the venue has already booked enough weddings to fill about 60 percent of its weekends from July through October next year. The first children's show at 10 Mile Music Hall will bring in Mister G, a Latin Grammy award winner who does bilingual children's songs, on Jan. 27.

If that's not enough, the owners of 10 Mile Music Hall have also been working with Odell Brewing Co., which has crafted a house beer specifically for Summit County's newest music venue. The brew is called, "10 Mile Mosaic," which is a single-hop, citrusy IPA that's said to pair quite nicely with a good, live performance.

For a lineup of upcoming shows at 10 Mile Music Hall or information about booking events, go to 10MileMusic.com.

Summit Daily Link

Silverthorne’s plans to remake downtown core move forward

#Silverthorne #Colorado

Summit Daily

Former Silverthorne Mayor Bruce Butler returned to town hall Wednesday night to praise the progress on Fourth Street Crossing, an estimated $80 million "catalyst project" designed to stimulate the downtown area.

Before his four-year term expired in April, Butler had highlighted Fourth Street Crossing as one of the major projects he hoped to approve before leaving office.

The outgoing mayor didn't get that opportunity, but he came back on Wednesday to tell his former colleagues he's quite pleased with the way things have been going since his departure.

"It's such an exciting night I had to come watch," Butler told council after detailing how he thinks this project will set the tone in Silverthorne for the next 50 years. "Thank you for your efforts. I think this is so close, and it's something we've wanted to see for a long time."

After that, council unanimously approved the developer's preliminary zoning and site plans. According to Tim Fredregill of Milender White, the Arvada-based firm selected to lead the project, if everything goes according to plan, he will come back with finalized plans in mid-December.

At that point, they'll go through another review with town staff, a hearing before the planning commission and then another hearing before town council. With council's final approval, crews could break ground as early as spring.

"That's the goal," Fredregill said.

The town and developers have been working on plans to redo the entire block between Third and Fourth streets for about two years now, even longer going back to the overarching concept of creating a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly downtown in Silverthorne.

Altogether, the Fourth Street Crossing covers about four acres of prime downtown real estate on the Blue River Parkway, directly across the highway from the Silverthorne Performing Arts Center, a new $9 million building that opened in summer 2017.

Billed as the next step for downtown, Fourth Street Crossing's preliminary site plan lays out 13 new buildings on the four acres — including a 112-room upscale hotel, Market Hall, transit center and parking garage, and two large mixed-use buildings with over 7,000 square feet of commercial space.

Multiple live-work units line Third Street and Adams Avenue in hopes they will help breathe new life into the area. The units could offer ideal space for financial advisors, lawyers, chiropractors, masseuses or other small businesses. Because the units can easily separate first-floor business activities from the rest of the home, Fredregill said he believes they will be quite attractive for people working in some of those professions. Behind the live-work units sits a cluster of townhomes, which help make the project financially viable.

With a facelift, The Mint Steakhouse will remain largely untouched where it is. Meanwhile, developers are working to incorporate elements of the Old Dillon Inn into the new Market Hall, which will sit beside The Mint and house multiple retailers, including anything from small food kiosks to sit-down restaurants, along with a large event space.

In approving the land-use and preliminary site plans, council put 17 conditions on the developers. The two biggest line items were fine-tuning the transit center and making the architecture look "more rustic."

Considering the scale of the project, Councilman Bob Kieber said he was impressed council didn't have to add more conditions and was greatly looking forward to voting on it Wednesday night.

One resident spoke out against the project, saying he doesn't see any reason Silverthorne needs a "Main Street" and believes it will be a "dead end" for the town. That prompted another man to offer his strong support in favor of the effort. For the former mayor, it was nice to see it all inching closer to reality.

"One of the things we talked about over the years is Silverthorne is a great community and what it lacks is a cohesive, physical identity," Butler said. "This project is the culmination of many, many, many years of work to try to bring that vision to fruition. I really commend Tim and his team. … if this works well, I see locals would gravitate to it just as much as visitors."

Interestingly enough, Fredregill said, the former mayor is apparently connected to the project in more ways than one. Recalling how a deal was struck to purchase the Old Dillon Inn, a critical component of the project, he said that agreement was actually signed on the old bar itself.

Part of the negotiations pertained to who got to keep the bar, while another piece of the talk covered some of the "old artifacts" found inside the Old Dillon Inn. One of them was an old softball that was apparently signed by a rec league many years ago. As fate would have it, one of the biggest signatures scribed on that ball happens to be Butler's.

Summit Daily Link

Homebuilder confidence increases slightly in October

#Colorado

Declining material costs and a strong economy contributed to homebuilder confidence climbing one point to 68 in October, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.

“Builders are motivated by solid housing demand, fueled by a growing economy and a generational low for unemployment," NAHB Chairman Randy Noel said. "Builders are also relieved that lumber prices have declined for three straight months from elevated levels earlier this summer, but they need to manage supply-side costs to keep home prices affordable.”

NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz said favorable economic conditions and demographic tailwinds should continue to support demand, but housing affordability has become a challenge due to ongoing price and interest rate increases.

“Unless housing affordability stabilizes, the market risks losing additional momentum as we head into 2019,” Dietz said.

In October, all three HMI indexes experienced an increase. Current sales conditions inched up from 73 to 74 points, while buyer traffic climbed four points from 49 to 53. Lastly, expectations over the next six months rose from 74 to 75 points.

The three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores show the Northeast moved up three points from 54 to 57 points, the South increased from 70 to 71 and the West remained unchanged at 74 points, respectively. However, the Midwest declined two points from 59 to 57 points, respectively.

Courtesy of Housingwire

Summit County’s draft of short-term rental regulations faces opposition from resort residents

#Summit County #Colorado

Summit Daily

Summit County's planning department unveiled its first draft of short-term rental regulations on unincorporated county properties during the regular board of county commissioners meeting on Tuesday. The draft has been in the works for over a year, and the rules are meant to start regulating the burgeoning industry.

County Commissioner Dan Gibbs said the purpose of the rules were to ensure health and safety of residents, maintain the residential character of neighborhoods and catch up with other resort communities that already have regulations, as well as level the playing field for all lodging entities.

County senior planner Kate Berg presented the draft regulations to the board and a packed room of local residents at the Frisco Day Lodge. The highlights of the proposed regulations include a permitting system with a fee of $150 per year, occupancy and parking limits, health and safety requirements, providing notice to guests about proper trash disposal and noise, requiring self-certified "Good Neighbor" agreement to not disrupt the character of residential neighborhoods and contracting a third party compliance company called STR Helper to ensure regulations are being followed.

If a permit is approved, short-term rental owners will be required to list the permit number in advertising, along with occupancy and parking limits. The draft regulations also add a process by which owners can apply for exceptions to the occupancy and parking limits, as well as a mechanism by which permits can be revoked for up to two years if a unit owner repeatedly violates the remit of the short-term rental permit.

Berg said the planning commission gathered a lot of feedback by direct contact from residents and at planning commission meetings. They then made a series of revisions to their original drafts to respond to the feedback.

Occupancy limits were one of the main complaints. Based on feedback considering the limit of two occupants per bedroom plus another two occupants as overly restrictive, there will also an option for occupants to be limited to one person per 300 square feet in addition to the two-plus-two formula, whichever has a higher limit. As far as parking, there needs to be a minimum of two parking spaces for each unit, with a maximum of five spaces. Again, these limits may receive exceptions through an appeal process.

Another change is removing the requirement for a "local" agent within a certain proximity to respond to unit issues, and instead requiring rental units have a "responsible" agent who can live outside the county, but still be able to respond to unit issues within 60 minutes, 24/7.

But by far the most pushback came from residents and lodging companies from the resort areas of Copper Mountain and Keystone. A long line of residents went to the podium to voice their opposition to the regulations, telling commissioners that the planning commission "needs to go back to the drawing board."

Opponents said the restrictions make no sense for short-term rental regulations in resort areas, since they are meant for commercial lodging and because most units are already under restrictions and regulations from HOAs and property management companies that make the county's regulations and annual $150 fee redundant. In an attempt to appease opponents from resort areas, Berg said that the planning department is considering whether to create new overlay districts for the resorts that would exempt them from some of the new county regulations.

One resident accused the county of "looking for problems to solve" when they didn't exist, while others did not understand the need for regulations when they were self-managing rentals just fine. Several residents believed the process was being rushed and that the county needed to take more time and feedback before passing any regulations.

Summit Cove Vacation Lodging, a company that short-term rents many units in Keystone, brought a small army of its employees to oppose the regulations, with many expressing fear of a significant loss of revenue from the occupancy limits.

After three hours of public comments, planning staff and commissioners tried to clarify certain issues raised by residents. However, issues such as whether to create an overlay district and how to streamline regulations with existing regulations from HOAs and metro districts remained unresolved, and the commissioners voted to table the issue to review all the feedback, as well as let staff make more tweaks to the draft regulations for another review. The regulations will be considered again at the commissioners' Nov. 13 meeting.

"I understand what people are saying, and there's a lot of information to review here," Gibbs said. "I'm ready to slow down a bit."

However, Commissioner Thomas Davidson wanted all the regulation opponents in the room to understand that the county is not acting arbitrarily in contemplating regulations.

"You should know that commissioners and other elected officials in resort communities have been feeling a lot of pressure to enact short-term rental regulations," Davidson said. "We are playing catch-up with resort communities across the nation. They've already done this, and they have not seen their economies cash or property values decline."

Summit Daily Link

Town staff recommends that Breckenridge should keep controversial troll in place for now

#Breckenridge #Colorado

Summit Daily

Breckenridge town staff are recommending the town keep Isak Heartstone, a public art installation made of reclaimed wood that has become so popular he's been creating problems for the people who live nearby.

At the beginning of the month, a handful of homeowners in the Wellington neighborhood told Breckenridge Town Council about the issuesthey've been seeing since the 15-foot wooden troll came to life in August for the Breckenridge International Festival of Arts, hoping the town would remove the troll.

The installation, created by Danish artist Thomas Dambo about a mile up the Wellington Trail for a $40,000 commission, is a project designed to remain in place for as long as the troll can withstand the elements and isn't vandalized.

He's been so well received, however, that nearby homeowners say "literally hundreds" of people are flocking to the troll on a daily basis. Aside from the heavy foot and vehicle traffic, the homeowners say troll hunters have been getting lost in the neighborhood, circling and parking illegally, sometimes blocking driveways and preventing the homeowners from getting to work.

In addition to fears for the safety of the children who play in the neighborhood's alleyways, the homeowners have described a loss of privacy because the trail to the troll sits close behind their homes. Other annoying behaviors such as excessive noise day and night, littering, people failing to pick up after their dogs and trespassing haven't gone unnoticed, either.

To address these complaints, staff laid out three options in a memo to town council, which is slated to continue discussions about the troll's future Tuesday. According to the memo, the town could keep the troll and try to better manage the impacts he's having, move him to another location or take the troll down altogether.

At this point, staff are recommending that the town should keep the troll on the Wellington Trail and continue to monitor the effects he's having on the community throughout the winter, both positive and negative, before re-evaluating the situation again this spring.

The memo details a number of steps the town has already taken to better manage the problems homeowners have been seeing, including increasing police enforcement, erecting new signage, adding trashcans, distributing flyers and clearly marking the legal parking areas while installing signs to discourage illegal parking in the neighborhood. Beyond that, the town has brought in some new fencing to prevent trespassing and created a "How to Find the Breckenridge Troll" page on the GoBreck.com website.

Town council is scheduled to discuss the troll's future at Tuesday's work session before going into its regular meeting. The work session begins at 3 p.m. at Breckenridge Town Hall, 150 Ski Hill Road, and the troll discussion is expected to happen sometime between 4:15 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., according to the agenda.

https://www.summitdaily.com/news/town-staff-recommends-that-breckenridge-should-keep-controversial-troll-in-place-for-now/

Summit County to consider draft of short-term rental regulations at Tuesday meeting

#Summit County #Colorado

Michael Yearout Photography

After months of work, the county planning department will present its draft regulations for short-term rentals in unincorporated Summit County at the county commissioners' regular meeting on Tuesday at 1 p.m. The regulations will seek to finally lay down some guidelines for the short-term lodging industry, which may pave the way for rental regulations in towns and counties. The regulations are expected to set occupancy and parking limits, create a permit system for short-term rentals, third-party complaint monitoring and an administrative system for permit withdrawal, among other new rules.

The meeting will take place at the Day Lodge at Frisco Adventure Park, 621 Recreation Way in Frisco, as the county courthouse is being used for early voting. Members of the public with more questions about the meeting or the agenda may contact the county at 970-453-3535.

Summit Daily Link